Professional Paths

February 06, 2014

Molly Gray, right, talks about the Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls at a TEDxConcordia event. (Photo by Armosa Studios)

Lewis & Clark students thrive in the classroom and the workplace. Our Career Development Center helps students define their goals and prepares them to make good on those aspirations by offering a variety of resources, including career counseling, mock interviews, resume workshops, and access to our wide alumni network.

The skills learned in a liberal arts education—critical and creative thinking, analytical reasoning, global literacy, and the ability to collaborate across specialties—allow graduates to pursue diverse career paths.

Young alumni in the workforce share how their education at Lewis & Clark equipped them for life beyond college.

Occupation: Researcher, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)

The analytical, technical, and critical thinking skills I gained at Lewis & Clark have served me tremendously. I first ran statistical analyses in SPSS—something I now do in my job—in introductory biology and Environmental Studies 220. As a researcher, I also draw on the specialized analytical skills I developed in an environmental law course I took my senior year.

I took a number of finance-related economic courses while at Lewis & Clark and I did my senior thesis on a corporate finance topic, asset pricing models. I think that coursework and experience helped me secure this position.

It’s a cliché, but a liberal arts education prepares you to think critically about whatever you’re dealing with. I gained a lot of important substantive knowledge in my four years, even though I don’t really apply the lessons of 19th-century German literature and international relations theory in my day-to-day work. I do, however, face a lot of complex problems without easy answers, and being able to think in different ways about these issues makes me better at my job.

My job is often as varied as my Lewis & Clark education. I majored in international affairs and I certainly use my diplomacy skills now, but I also took classes in French, queer studies, women’s and gender studies, and music, all of which have been relevant to my life and my work.

Having knowledge in an array of subjects has increased my success and sense of fulfillment both professionally and personally. I believe my psychology background helps me to be a better financial representative than I would be had I spent my college years studying only finance and economics.